Google Launches Street View in Germany
What's happening on the streets of Oberstaufen, Germany? Now you, and the rest of Google's millions of users, can have a view. A street-level, occasionally blurry view that is.
What’s happening on the streets of Oberstaufen, Germany? Now you, and the rest of Google’s millions of users, can have a view. A street-level, occasionally blurry view that is.
After months of legal wrangling, the Internet search giant posted its first images of Germany on Tuesday as part of its “Street View” mapping feature.
Unveiled are 360-degree views of rolling hills, quaint houses and quiet streets in the town of Oberstaufen in Bavaria, south Germany.
Street View is now available in 20 countries but what makes the Germany debut significant is the fierce opposition the company faced in bringing it to the country.
Privacy advocates around the world have opposed Street View from the beginning, claiming it breaches privacy and puts the security of the people as well as their property at risk.
The planned rollout of the feature’s vehicles specially-equipped to take street-level photos prompted an especially high pitched outcry in Germany, a country long wary of privacy issues due to its Communist and Nazi histories.
Last week, Google confessed that its Street View cars mistakenly gathered personal data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks while capturing street views.
To gain access to the country, Google allowed Germans to “opt out” of the service, promising to blur their house. Out of a total of 8,458,084 households, Google said it received 244,237 opt-outs, or approximately 2.89 per cent of households.
The town of Oberstaufen was an exception to the private debate, seeing Street View as a marketing tool and courting Google with invitations and even a cake.
“For tourists, it can only be an advantage if they can already get detailed information about their holiday on the Internet before they book,” said Andrea Presser, from the town’s tourism office.
Google plans to press forward in Germany, rolling out the service for Germany’s 20 largest cities by the end of this year.
Street View cameras are currently present in all seven continents, with the Czech Republic the lone country successful in blocking expansion of the service.
